The Plea
by Aslan's Princess
Summary: Something made the Beast pause and reconsider. My interpretation.


He could feel the rage coursing through his veins. This man, Gaston, had invaded his castle with the intention of killing him.

If Belle hadn't returned, the hunter would have succeeded. But, now, he had something to live for. Surely Belle saw something within his monstrous form that would have caused her to come back. He pushed those thoughts aside, forced himself to focus on this battle, a battle he couldn't afford to lose.

This brute thought that _he_ should have Belle? He would have to rethink that.

A space sprawled between them, the Beast to catch a breath and see how he could rid himself of this human monster. But the words that roared from his enemy's mouth caused him to snap.

"It's over, Beast! Belle is _mine_!"

_Never_, he silently promised. He leaped upon the man. Dashed him against the sloping roof of the tower. Knocked the stone club from his hand.

Even as the man tried to scramble back, he grabbed the hunter by the throat and held him over the edge of his castle.

But before the Beast could drop him, Gaston grabbed his wrist with both hands, though they could barely clasp half its width.

"Let me go! Let me go! Please! Don't hurt me! I'll do anything! _Anything_!"

Those words froze the former beast to a halt.

Where had he heard such desperate, pleading words before? Why did they touch something in him that gave him pause?

_The day my life ended._

Why did those words pierce him through like a knife? Where had he heard them?

_Please! Don't hurt me! I'll do anything! Anything!_

A boy. Yes. A mere boy had spoken them. Only eleven years of age. A child had spoken them. But not just any boy . . .

_Christmas thus far had been awful. The worst had been Forte's musical piece, supposedly in his honor, the most gloomy piece he had ever heard._

_He never would have dreamed that for the next ten years he would prefer Forte's mournful, haunting tunes._

_Then, that sound. That dreadful knocking that had changed his life forever._

_"Who disturbs my Christmas!?" the spoiled brat of a prince demanded._

_He marched forward and pulled the doors open. Shivering on the doorstep was a bent, shriveled, old woman. Her rags looked ready to be torn off her thin frame by the blizzard's blasts. One eye had grown closed, leaving the hag with only one eye. She leaned heavily on a cane, but in her other hand, she held a perfect, red rose. "Please, accept this rose in exchange for shelter from the bitter cold," she requested._

_The boy scoffed. "I don't need a rose. Go away, you wretched, old hag."_

_Before he managed to close the door, the hag spoke again. "Don't be deceived by appearances, young prince. For beauty is found within."_

_"I told you to leave!" he yelled, slamming the doors in the hag's face._

_Never once did he consider the impossibility of a peasant carrying a perfect bloom of any sort in the dead of winter._

_Even if he had been the sort to take notice of such things, he never had an opportunity to reflect on it._

_A blinding flash of light came from behind him. He shielded his eyes with his hands, then cried out in fright as he fell back._

_A tall, beautiful woman in a flowing gown floated before him. In one hand, she held a slender, golden staff with a rose vine twisted round to a blooming rose that made the head of a magic wand. In her other hand, she held the rose that the beggar woman had been carrying._

_"You have been deceived, by your own cold heart," she proclaimed._

_All too late, he realized his mistake. He had refused an enchantress. An enchantress who was now very angry with him._

_"Please! Don't hurt me!" he begged, holding an arm before his face, as though it could shield him from whatever form her wrath would take. "I'll do anything! _Anything_!"_

_"You have no love in your heart!" the Enchantress cried. "Your heart is as cold as deepest winter, as hard as any diamond. A curse upon your house and all within in it!"_

_He stared in horror as magic, horrible, horrible magic swirled around him, took him captive, started to change him._

_"This rose that you refused is an enchanted rose. It shall bloom until your twenty-first year. After that time, the petals shall begin to fall. You must learn how to love and be loved in return before the final petal falls. If you fail to find someone to love as you are and that you come to love with all your heart, you shall remain forever . . . a beast."_

_He roared in agony, anger, fear as he looked down and saw the forearms and paws of a beast. He was forever cursed._

He returned to the present in an instant. He had pleaded for mercy and had not received it. He had been the one to speak the words this man, this would-be murderer, had just echoed.

If he had heard this plea even three months ago, he wouldn't have stopped to reconsider dropping this haughty, prideful man to his death.

But, Belle had changed him. She had warmed his heart. She had softened his heart. She had reversed everything the Enchantress had claimed. And now, it was time to show mercy.

He dragged Gaston back from the edge.

The hunter's blue eyes widened even further as wordless sounds came from his mouth.

He forced the man to his knees, though it was more like he was barely keeping the man upright. He leaned forward so close their noses almost touched, his eyes locked with the hunter's. _If he was willing to do anything_ . . . "Get out," he growled.

He tossed the man aside, seconds before he heard the most beautiful sound.

A sound he thought he would never hear again.

It wasn't his name, but it came from _her_.

Not with contempt, not in fear, or anger.

But with friendship, kindness, and . . . dared he to hope? . . . love.

"Beast!"

"Belle."

* * *

**Author's Note**: Quite possibly one of the first fanfictions I wrote. And as such, one that, although I tweaked it a bit before sharing, my brain is still saying, "You could do better." But my brain is also refusing to inspire me of how to make it better. So, sometime in the future (potentially far future) this little story may receive a full revamp.

I loved _Beauty and the Beast_ growing up, and this is at least a bit like what I imagined going through Beast's mind at Gaston's words. I drew inspiration both from Disney's original animated version and it's Christmas sequel. Something that they missed with that flashback scene was returning to the original prologue and capturing the full exchange from beginning to end. So, I kinda tried to remedy that.

Hope you enjoyed my first dive into fanfiction, even if it's still rough around the edges.


End file.
